High Seas Adventures
by stariousfalls
Summary: Eager to spend time with their grunkles again since their departure from Gravity Falls the past summer, Dipper and Mabel embark on the Stan O' War II out on the Arctic Ocean with them. However, a simple and fun trip can make a sharp turn, dramatically fast. When there's trouble afoot, what's the Pines family to do?


**Word count:** 3,530~ (sWEET MOSES)

 **A/N:** THIS HAS BEEN IN MY NOTES EVER SINCE FEBRUARY OH GOODNESS. (AND IT ALSO TOOK ME A MONTH TO POST THIS ON HERE FROM MY TUMBLR AHH.) I had this idea ever since the finale, and I actually started writing it around then, but I then let it sit for the next 4 months before finally coming back to i s. But oh well — better late than never, right? I kind of wanted to have a fic where Dipper and Mabel actually join the Stan twins temporarily on their adventure(s) (like over a break or something). However, just to keep the kids as safe as possible, Stan and Ford actually don't do a lot of venturing around the seas to find anomalies and so forth (especially after the whole Weirdmageddon incident, haha). They just kind of take them to nearby places they've already been to and explored, like some tropical islands, and other stuff at ports, and kind of show the kids around (which they love and are absolutely fascinated). And actually, I have other ideas in mind for this, so I may continue this? Depends on how much recognition and feedback I get.

Hope you all enjoy reading, nonetheless! :)

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"Kids!" Stan shouted from the edge of the dock, which instantly grabbed both of the twins' attentions.

"Grunkle Stan!" The two called out from the other side. All smiles, the two wasted no time in dashing over towards their grunkles.

"I can't believe you're here!" Stan called out with a grin, welcoming the younger twins' hug with open arms.

"You have no idea how many times we had to beg our parents to let us go." Dipper admitted into his shoulder with a smile. "But we made it!"

The younger set of twins broke into a small fit of laughter as Stan finally loosed his grip around them, allowing the two to ease their way out of his arms. As the two got comfortable beside Stan, they glanced over to the side to find Ford tying and securing the _'Stan O' War II'_ to the edge of the dock, making sure it stays in its proper place and doesn't drift off to sea. He then set his sights on his smiling grandniece and grandnephew – both already armed and ready to attack him with a big hug as well, which he gladly accepted.

"Dipper! Mabel!" The author laughed as he hoisted the twins up into his arms, hugging them tightly to his body. "It's so great to see you two again."

"Ah! I'm so excited to go adventuring with you guys!" Mabel gushed with excitement as soon as Ford released them, bringing both her hands up to her face as her eyes sparkled. "You two have to tell us _everything_ that's happened while we were away! And that includes every detail!"

Stan chuckled. "Yeah, well — we can exchange stories later. We're kind of on a tight schedule. Though hows about we get back on the sea and you guys settled in, huh?"

The younger set of Pines twins cheered in unison as Stan and Ford proceeded to follow the two back onto their boat, with Dipper and Mabel's luggage in tow.

" _Woah_ — this is way past cool!" Dipper exclaimed, fawning over the eerie atmosphere of the boat.

As Stan and Ford were busy discussing things out on the deck, the smaller set of twins decided to explore the inside of the boat, which on its main level had a small open room that had a small metal fire-pit in the middle with a couple worn recliners placed around it, a good-sized wooden desk in one corner that was covered with all sorts of books, maps and items, fishing poles and other outdoor gear in another, and just about anything else that would be a necessity living on the sea. And upon further investigation of the area, there was one thing that was definitely a concern (at least to Mabel); and that was the lack of vibrant colors in the space.

" _Hmm_ ," protested Mabel, placing a hand on her chin in thought. "This place could really use a makeover."

"...I don't think Grunkle Stan would appreciate waking up to the Stan O War being covered in glitter. And actually Great Uncle Ford too for that matter..."

"Well, I think they should know by now that everyone needs a little _sparkle_ in your life." She retorted with a grin.

The two ventured to the bottom of the boat, where they discovered a small kitchen with a little table and seating, and an open area where they figured their grunkles slept. They placed their belongings next to the full sized futon, which was spread out nicely across the floor. They then continued to take in their surroundings, noticing the small but cozy twin bunks sitting next to the futon the kiddos would be sharing, with a small frame of a smiling Dipper and Mabel placed on a small nightstand beside it. They would all be sleeping in the same room due to lack of space, but neither sets of Pines twins minded. Mabel saw this as the perfect opportunity to tell bedtime stories.

"All right you 'lil gremlins—some ground rules. As you can tell, space on this boat is limited, so you have to be careful. That means no screwing around or horseplay. The last thing I need is to send the two of you home with a broken bone or whatever." Stan grumbled, pointing towards the twins with a stern look. "Got it?"

"Don't worry, Grunkle Stan. You can count on us to not get into any trouble. Cross my heart!" Mabel emphasized her words by placing a hand over her heart, smiling widely.

"So what is the plan for the next couple weeks, anyway?" Dipper piped in with a quirked brow.

"Well, since you two runts are gonna suck us dry of our food supply; we need to stock up on some grub at the next port."

Stan yelped when he felt a light jab in his side. "What Stan meant to say was, since we now have two more mouths to feed, we'll need to get more food at our next stop. We didn't stock up before you got here because we figured you two would have certain preferences on what you'd like to eat. That way you two can pick out or suggest what snacks and so forth you'd like to have while we're out on the sea."

The kids watched carefully yet in awe as Stan grabbed a world map from the nearest shelf, unfolded it, and spread it out amongst the desk before them. Dipper then took note of all the various red dots that were scattered across various locations in the Atlantic Ocean. He figured they must've been places Stan and Ford have visited already.

"So — where we headin', kiddos?" Stan questioned with a smile.

"We'll be traveling around the Atlantic Ocean, right?" Dipper inquired back in curiosity.

"Yes, that's the general area. Just not the Pacific Ocean — that'd be tremendously long to sail, and you kids need to be back in time for school. We only have a couple weeks or so, after all." Ford piped in with a nod.

"So we could go up north if we wanted to?"

The author nodded. "Yes, that would be a possibility. Just not far enough to where I'd take weeks to get back."

"Polar bears!" Mabel chimed in optimistically, "Can we go see them, Grunkle Ford?"

Ford began to scratch the back of his head anxiously, while averting his grandniece's gaze. "Well, I...uhh — I don't really think that'd be such a good — "

"Oh come on, Ford — let them see somethin'. What could go wrong?"

"...Hmm, well...I guess we could view them from afar – _many miles away_."

"Ford — "

"I'm _not_ risking the lives of the kids, Stan."

Stan threw his hands up in defeat. "I'm just saying that teaching a polar bear to drive would be the next perfect thing for the shack."

The kids cringed in uneasiness, as they were lucky enough to witness the last incident with teaching a regular bear how to drive.

 _"Stan."_

Stan forked out a laugh. "I'm just joking, Poindexter. Don't get your undies in a bundle."

Ford groaned as Stan proceeded to wrap an arm around his shoulders with a smug grin.

"Up north it is!"

"Hey kids, check this out," He said as he pointed out towards the eerie island in the distance, earning the smaller set of twins' attention. The island appeared to be surrounded by a thick sheet of fog, which contained numerous trees that seemed disoriented and thorny.

"Woah, that island looks really bizarre." Dipper commented in astonishment, yet interest.

"And creepy!" Mabel added with a grin.

"It's just one of the many islands that Ford and I happened to explore. That's where I came across some ferocious urban legend beast – which I ended up giving him a piece of my mind after it messed with the wrong guy. I had him running for the hills after showing him who's boss!" Stan finished with a grin, and proceeded to place a hand on his hip and pointed towards himself with confidence, trying to give the kids a hint over who came out victorious.

"Oh, you mean that one monster that had you begging for mercy and repeatedly calling for me, desperately needing my help?" Ford corrected with a smug grin, keeping his hands steady on the steering wheel as the boat kept trudging on through the freezing waters of the Arctic.

The kids broke out into soft laughter.

" _Oi_ — lay off Poindexter, will ya'?"

"I'm only telling them what's true." Ford said innocently in return, shrugging as his grin stayed intact.

Stan only huffed in response, but after seeing Dipper and Mabel's face light up and laughter filled the air, his irritation eventually turned into happiness and bliss. However, the joyful moment was quickly interrupted when the author's eyes picked up something concerning in the distance.

"Hold on, brace yourselves everyone — glacier up ahead!" Ford called out abruptly, alarming the rest of his family nearby.

The boat thrashed around as the waves became rougher, causing its passengers to hang on for dear life. With a brief grunt Ford spun its wheel at full force, throwing the boat away from the vast chunk of ice at the last minute. Though before he could release a sigh of relief, he heard petrified cries calling out from behind him.

 _"MABEL!"_

Ford immediately felt his heart clench with anxiousness and fear at the distressful scream of his grandniece's name. He glanced back to find his brother and grandnephew frantically scanning the icy waters around the boat, and raced back to join them.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Ford demanded apprehensively as he softly grabbed ahold of Stan's hoodie and turned his twin to face him, in need of answers.

"It was Mabel!" Dipper cried out, immediately bringing the Stan twins' attention toward their grandnephew down beside them.

"She...while we were trying to avoid the glacier from piercing the boat, she...the force of the turn threw her out of the boat and now she's somewhere out in the water!" Dipper answered with a tone of severe concern, eyes filled with fear.

 _Oh, no._

Ford wasted no time in rushing back towards the dashboard of the steering wheel like his life depended on it, where he then found a pair of binoculars resting upon it. As soon as he snatched the item he darted back towards the back of the boat where he immediately began frantically searching the roaring seas for anything that stood out to him.

"Come on, _come on!_ Where is she...?" The author trailed off as he continued to scan the ocean for an article of clothing, a waving limb — _anything_.

After a few minutes of searching, he was about to try and scan another area until his eyes picked up something pink in the distance. He didn't even think to question himself over his accusations, as he knew it had to be her. "There!" He roared out as he felt a small wave of relief wash over him. However, the crisis was far from over.

"What — really? Where is she?" Before Stan could throw himself overboard immediately to go retrieve her, Ford grabbed hold his hood once more and held him in place.

"Stay back—it's too dangerous!" Ford informed sternly, causing Stan to stumble back in bewilderment. "You stay here with Dipper. I'll be back."

"But — " Stan began to protest, but Ford waved him off.

"Stan, we don't have time to argue! Mabel's _life_ is on the line!" Ford raised his voice, which silenced his brother. He released a sigh. "Don't worry Stan. I know you want to get her — but I know where she is. I'll bring her back, so just stay put, okay?"

Stan could only nod slowly in defeat, and obliged.

"I'll be back." Ford repeated once more before he threw off his life jacket and instantaneously dived into the freezing water, leaving an apprehensive Stan and Dipper behind.

For a moment Ford felt his body tense up from the dramatic change in temperature, though now there wasn't any time to waste — he desperately needed to get his grandniece out of here. _And fast_. He wasted no time in swimming over to Mabel (while avoiding various fragments of ice along the way), immediately pulled her into his arms when she was in an arm's reach, and dragging the both of them back over to the boat where Stan and Dipper stood watching in both relief and horror.

As soon as Ford latched onto the ladder attached to the side of the boat Stan had already rushed over to pull Mabel out of the sea, and gently lie her down on the floor of the boat, with him kneeling down at her side and an arm wrapped around her body. He checked her pulse — slow and faint, but still there.

"Mabel, sweetie, _say something_." Stan said shakily, as he watched her body shiver uncontrollably and waited for a response. The only thing he got in return was miserable whimpers and slow hoarse breathing. Taking that as a sign of desperate need for warmth, he immediately began to rip her life jacket off and stripped her down to her undergarments to try and get as much of the soaked clothes off of her as he could. As soon as she was deprived of the majority of her clothing he took off his hoodie and put it on her, as well as his beanie and placing it over her ears and replaced her soaked and cold socks with his dry new ones, hoping to bring back any warmth and circulation in her body.

His heart was _racing_ — he had no idea how low her body temperature had dropped, or even if his actions were helping her recover any body warmth that was lost.

"Dipper—get your sister some new, warm clothes pronto!"

Dipper rushed into the cabin of the boat to retrieve some clothing, with Stan not far behind with Mabel in tow. However before Stan entered he glanced back to find his brother still gasping for air, and proceeding to clean up after themselves before strolling over to the inside of the boat as well.

"As soon as I quickly change I'll make something to warm her up."

Stan quirked a brow in concern. "But what about you, Poindexter?"

"I'll be fine — it's Mabel that needs the attention more than I."

Stan only nodded in reply before fully entering the boat's cabin, with Ford not far behind.

"Grunkle Stan, I've got some new clothes for Mabel!" Dipper piped in softly as he held up the articles of clothing towards Stan.

"Thank you, Dipper." Stan answered fondly as he placed Mabel down gently on the nearest chair and grabbed the clothes from Dipper's arms.

It wasn't long before Mabel had already been changed into some new, dry clothes and wrapped in dozens of blankets to try and help her body temperature rise.

"How is she?" Ford suddenly asked as he entered the room with a new outfit.

"Uhh...she's still shivering. Is that a good thing or..."

"Yes, that's good. That means her body's trying to warm itself — it's a natural automatic defense against cold temperature. If she wasn't shivering, that would mean that her temperature is falling faster than it's trying to warm itself. Her condition would be worsening if she stopped shivering at this point, so as long as we keep an eye on her and do whatever we can to bring her body temperature back up to where it needs to be, we should be fine."

"...All right, if you say so."

Mabel abruptly shot up in place, suddenly feeling overheated and tense. For a second she panicked, as she at first didn't recognize her surroundings, finding herself lying down and wrapped in various blankets across a worn but comfy sofa — however, as soon as she glanced down and found Stan up against the edge of the sofa with his head in his crossed arms, snoring softly, she felt her anxiousness diminish.

As she continued to investigate, she saw a dimmed light in the distance on a nearby desk, where she then found her other grunkle hunched over, appearing to be busy writing something down in some book. Now curious and restless, she unraveled the blankets from around her body, and softly hoisted herself onto the wooden flooring beneath her. And while mindful of Stan she quietly made her way around the fire-pit, which was currently lit and keeping the space warm, and across the room to where her other grunkle sat.

Suddenly feeling someone's presence beside him, he glanced to the side to find that his grandniece had finally awoken, and (at least) appeared to be in good health. "Mabel, you're up! Are you all right? Do you need something?" He inquired quite rapidly with concern, wasting no time getting on his knees before her to begin examining her for anything abnormal. He placed his hand over her forehead, checking to make sure her temperature felt normal. "How are you feeling?"

"Oh, don't worry about me, Grunkle Ford. I'm fine!" She chirped softly back in reply.

"But you just went through a traumatic event earlier today...are you sure you're feeling all right?" Ford questioned with uncertainty and worry, scanning her face for any signs of discomfort. " _I should check her to be sure anyway..._ " He trailed off in a whisper to himself.

Before Ford could carry on with examining her further for anything concerning, her hands latched onto his, immediately causing him to pause in his actions and look into her eyes.

"Trust me, Grunkle Ford — I'm okay! I'm just a little bit tired, but that's about it." She admitted, slowly easing her hands away from his.

"Are you sure?"

Mabel nodded, slightly grinning. However, before Ford could say anything else, she instantly changed the subject when the book lying up on the desk in front of her came into view.

"What's that?" Mabel pointed up towards the item in wonder, which caused Ford to hoist himself back up onto his feet and into his chair once more, picking up the book carefully.

"Oh, _this?_ " He was just about to lower the journal down to her level so she could scan the page, though before he had the chance she was already attempting to climb up onto his lap. With a smile he placed the journal back down onto the table and helped hoist her up onto his lap. She swung her feet through the air underneath the chair happily as she began to scan over the pages of the entry in her grunkle's new journal. "It's just a rough sketch of some creature that I happened to see during our little voyage. Looks like there's something out here that's worth investigating."

"Will we be going out to find it?"

"Oh! Heavens, no. I think you've already been through enough, dear." He answered quickly, and proceeded to write more information into the journal while taking occasional glances toward his grandniece. "Stan and I will go investigate it ourselves once we drop the two of you off back at the Boston port."

"So, you have a new journal?"

Ford nodded, smiling softly. "Oh, yes — after the catastrophic events of Weirdmageddon and the destruction of my journals from Gravity Falls, I figured that I'd log as many anomalies Stan and I come across as we can. In the end it'll be something just to look back at in the future whenever our adventure out on the sea is done."

"Oh yeah — I forgot that the journals are gone..." Mabel trailed off softly. "Do you ever wish you had them back?"

"You know, after what occurred at the end of this past summer — I realized just how much trouble my journals became. As much as I'd like to have them still around, I wouldn't trade anything to have them back." Noticing the sudden weariness in his grandniece's eyes and occasional jerks of trying to stay awake, he closed his journal and placed it back on the desk, focusing his sights entirely on Mabel. "All right young lady, that's enough questions for one night. You need your rest, sweetheart." He said as he hoisted himself out of his chair, with Mabel in his arms.

He carefully carried her back over to the chair, where she was wrapped securely in blankets sleeping not even thirty minutes ago. As he was about to try and place her down in the recliner, however, he found the simple task difficult – as he couldn't find a way to break her tight grip around his body.

After a few minutes of trying to pry Mabel's hands off of him, he eventually gave up in his actions, softly smiling as he released a sigh of defeat yet amusement. He then resorted to sitting in the chair, allowing his grandniece to snuggle up against him, a content smile growing across her features. After bringing a blanket up over the two of them, he wrapped an arm around his grandniece, deciding that sleeping in the chair with her was his best option as he found comfort in the affection and warmth.

After all, if you can't beat them; join them.

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 **A/N:** And that concludes the story for now! I may or may not continue this - depends on all the feedback I get, I guess haha. Favorites, follows and reviews are much appreciated.

Thank you and hope you all enjoyed reading! :)

-Syd


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